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Comment by Anna Morelli on November 16, 2013 at 10:50am

Part of the problems for humans is that Coyotes are intelligent, resourceful and highly adaptive creatures, much like Racoons and so they will move into human habitat if they find it useful for their survival.  In Colorado Springs, friends and students alike often reported Coyotes and even seen Bears in developments within City limits.... Still, the shelters are full of stray cats and dogs and humans euthanize far more of these than get  taken by Coyotes and for less valid reasons....

Comment by Jane Christensen on November 16, 2013 at 10:02am

We have CREP acres about 3-4 miles up our road so there's plenty of grass land ( 320 acres or more) to find little critters and a drainage ditch less than a mile from our home for water. I don't mind until they have pups about a block from our house...that means training time for the young ones and it's much too close.

I do feel sorry for the ones who lose their habitat to humans!

One of out Therapy group members lost their 1st Basset Hound to Coyotes and had a Coyote with 1 leg on their deck after their new one...the next day they watched the coyote come across the field in daylight to go after the dog:(

Comment by Anna Morelli on November 16, 2013 at 8:02am

BTW Coyotes also feed on mice, that puts them in direct competition  with the cats.  We had an area of about 20 acres adjacent to our property that had a population of some obscure protected species of mouse. Driving by in daytime I often saw a small Coyote there hunting.  I would pull over and watch.  He would stand very still, intensely focused, then pounce with his 2 front paws.  I don't think he got much, as he would do this over and over and it did not seem like he was eating, but who knows?  A big Mule Deer grazed there as well and would chase off the Coyote if he got too close.  The Coyote would run off and patiently wait for his chance to resume when the Buck moved further away.  It did not seem to affect the mouse population, which has since been de-listed as a protected species.....  Result: a developer bought the 20 acres and now there are 5 big, fancy houses there, most of the trees have been cut down.  The Coyotes still need to eat, feed their pups, etc and are more and more put in conflict with the environment we provide. So it goes.

Comment by Linda on November 15, 2013 at 11:09pm

Thankfully I don't have those in the city but I do have some very obnoxious squirrels.  Heaven help them if the corgis ever get them tho.

Comment by Jane Christensen on November 15, 2013 at 10:43pm

Anna, I love their howling too...but at a distance not up close.The yipping I don't as I understand that means they have found something to prey on and they will lure dogs out by sounding like pups yipping to kill the dogs:( I was reading one time that they actually howl to let other coyotes know they are passing through their territory...not sure. I lost 2 cats this year to most likely coyotes or an Eagle or Hawk one was an outside cat that I had neutered and the other was an in/out cat that I put out that night because he was being a little stinker in the house.

Beth....Bears, oh my. We have SNAP clinics but people still don't like to spend the money:( We have mice and have seen an occasional rat in winter due to having free range chickens...having cats is important to us but they don't reproduce...even the stray has no other female he can mate with...at least here. Interesting study! People around here actually lose more calves to peoples dogs running than to coyotes:(

Linda...I love fox...glad someone took the time an effort to help the fox!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Comment by Anna Morelli on November 15, 2013 at 10:11pm

Our bird feeders get raided by the Mule Deer!

Comment by Beth on November 15, 2013 at 10:00pm

Funny timing: we just had a bear in our yard. Kinda scary. Looks like a young adult? Raiding our bird feeder.

Comment by Linda on November 15, 2013 at 7:54pm

Beth...because my neighbor allows her cat to roam I have had to stop feeding the birds in winter.  He stalks my feeders and has gotten more several.. The mice population has also decreased...I didn't have one mouse in the house last winter but I found many bodies in the yard.  Which doesn't thrill me because of the dogs.  Not in favor of them eating dead mice. At least they had him altered.  You are right that the birds will see a hawk overhead and leave.  In very bad winters I have seen hawks stalking my feeders.  We have a red tailed hawk who likes to prey on the blue jays.  I've found 2...or at least what was left of them, mostly feathers.  He seems to like to eat them in my apple tree.

That is interesting about the difference in treatments of the male cats.  Make sense when you think about it.

Comment by Linda on November 15, 2013 at 7:45pm

Anna...I so understand how important each animal is to our ecosystem and you are right...we all have different lifestyles.  I do find those who have barn cats but don't see to it that they can't produce litter after litter to be totally selfish.  They want the cats to do work for them but don't care enough to take care of the cats.  I don't like the idea of relying on the coyotes to keep the population in check either in that situation...that is irresponsible.  But I do understand how they can be helpful in controlling a pack of feral cats that have over-populated an area.

My husband works in a quarry along the Hudson River.. The land that is not being mined has been designated a wetland, the company works hard to preserve it and they have been rewarded with all kinds of wildlife.  This past summer Mark and a co-woker spotted a young female fox.  He said she was starving so badly that she was approaching them looking for a handout.  She also had a severe case of mange.  The 2 guys started feeding her and the other guy got meds from a friend who is a vet to treat the manage.  Now they only see her in the early morning instead of during the middle of the day...she is now hunting on her own and the mange is almost completely gone.  They still put out dog food twice a week with the mange medication.  She has gone from death's door to most likely being able to survive the upcoming winter.  Most people would have left her to die but not these guys....they fought to help her.  I am proud of them.  So they now have a healthy fox among the falcons, hawks, deer, coyotes, ducks, snakes and heaven knows what else lives there.

 

Comment by Jennifer Markley on November 15, 2013 at 7:22pm

Very glad Smidge is OK...I can understand how horrible you must have felt.  We just rescued a stray kitten from my husbands grandparents ranch in Kansas a couple of months ago because the coyotes (or mountain lion) would have gotten her for sure.  We have coyotes here in Iowa, I hear them sometimes from my place, but they sound pretty far away.

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